View full sizeLi-Hua Lan / Post-Standard, 2009The crowd stands up to applaud Rich Ricci, of Fayette, after he spoke against the Cayuga Nation's bid for a land trust during the Bureau of Indian Affairs hearing in June 2009 at New York Chiropractic College in Seneca Falls.

Washington -- The Department of the Interior today dismissed the Cayuga Indian Nation's request to have 125 acres in Cayuga and Seneca counties placed into a tax-free federal trust, potentially ending a six-year battle with local property owners.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer., D-N.Y., joined with hundreds of local residents who fought since April 2005 against the designation. Residents and local officials were concerned the federal trust would erode the tax base in the two counties.

“For years, this application to take land into trust has hung like a dark cloud over Cayuga and Seneca counties," Schumer said this afternoon. "Today, with this decision, the skies just got much clearer."

The Department of the Interior said in a statement that it had dismissed the Cayuga Nation application and returned it to the tribe because it was incomplete and "did not address all of the requirements contained in the department's regulations."

U.S. Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk did not not elaborate on the specific reasons why the application was incomplete. He said the Cayuga Nation could submit a new application "when it is prepared to address all of the relevant factors in the regulations."

The federal government approved a similar application for the Oneida Indian Nation, allowing 13,000 acres in Madison and Oneida counties to be placed into a tax-free federal trust. Madison and Oneida counties, joined by the state, are contesting that decision in federal court.

Schumer acknowledged that the battle over the Cayuga application could continue if the Cayugas submit a new application.

"I fought tooth and nail to have the Interior Department block this application, and am pleased that the federal government has heeded our call," he said. "I’ll continue to stand side-by-side with homeowners, businesses, and county government leaders to oppose further attempts to take land into trust without the consent of Seneca and Cayuga counties.”

The Cayugas started the trust application process in 2005. The 125 acres it sought to place into federal trust includes part of the nation’s ancestral homeland around the north end of Cayuga Lake.